Y Stories • YCAN • YMCA Youth Programs
COVID-19 response from Saskatoon YCAN group provides shining hope for brighter future
16 October 2020 - by ymcablog
Version Française
The YMCA Community Action Network (YCAN) gives youth a platform so they can lead service projects that make a real difference in their local communities. Over the past several months, YCAN groups across the country have pivoted to meet new needs emerging in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Here’s how the group in Saskatoon stepped up to do their part.
Before the pandemic, youth in our neighbourhood met a lot of their basic needs at our school. They’d get their daily breakfast there, for example, and they’d get to spend time with their friends. COVID-19 changed all of that and our YCAN group wanted to do something to help.
Sharing care packages and community connections
After a lot of brainstorming, we chose to organize care packages. We had to work together and come up with creative solutions for collecting items for the care packages and dropping them off. Currently, we’re busy creating products such as a hand sanitizer for teens in our community.
Compassion and determination to help
We were all impressed with each other — with our ability to identify and address needs in our neighbourhood. But we were also impressed with our local community and the global community at large. There have been so many examples of determination and creativity as we all strive to support one another.
We were able to enjoy events like virtual graduations which, although different from what we’d originally planned and looked forward to, turned out to be really exciting. After all, who doesn’t want to receive congratulatory messages from global leaders like former President Obama and Malala Yousafzai?
Looking forward to brighter days
In the end, we’re trying to stay positive. Sometimes we remind ourselves we were privileged enough to be able to relax on a “corona-cation” this summer. But the truth is, we’re excited for a future where COVID-19, if not gone from our lives entirely, isn’t causing so much suffering in our communities. We hope our contributions can help people get through these tough times.
Thank you to the YCAN Saskatoon group! Your ability to adapt and support your community during a global pandemic truly provides a shining hope for a brighter future.
The YMCA Community Action Network (YCAN) gives youth a platform so they can lead service projects that make a real difference in their local communities. Over the past several months, YCAN groups across the country have pivoted to meet new needs emerging in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Here’s how the group in Saskatoon stepped up to do their part.
Before the pandemic, youth in our neighbourhood met a lot of their basic needs at our school. They’d get their daily breakfast there, for example, and they’d get to spend time with their friends. COVID-19 changed all of that and our YCAN group wanted to do something to help.
Sharing care packages and community connections
After a lot of brainstorming, we chose to organize care packages. We had to work together and come up with creative solutions for collecting items for the care packages and dropping them off. Currently, we’re busy creating products such as a hand sanitizer for teens in our community.
Compassion and determination to help
We were all impressed with each other — with our ability to identify and address needs in our neighbourhood. But we were also impressed with our local community and the global community at large. There have been so many examples of determination and creativity as we all strive to support one another.
We were able to enjoy events like virtual graduations which, although different from what we’d originally planned and looked forward to, turned out to be really exciting. After all, who doesn’t want to receive congratulatory messages from global leaders like former President Obama and Malala Yousafzai?
Looking forward to brighter days
In the end, we’re trying to stay positive. Sometimes we remind ourselves we were privileged enough to be able to relax on a “corona-cation” this summer. But the truth is, we’re excited for a future where COVID-19, if not gone from our lives entirely, isn’t causing so much suffering in our communities. We hope our contributions can help people get through these tough times.
Thank you to the YCAN Saskatoon group! Your ability to adapt and support your community during a global pandemic truly provides a shining hope for a brighter future.
